1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic card connector, and particularly to an electronic card connector having an improved adapter device.
2. Description of the Art
Commonly, several means are adopted for electrically connecting an electronic card connector to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). One such means is directly electrically connecting conductive contacts of a card connector with a PCB, as is disclosed in Taiwan application No. 84101873. Another means is using an adapter device, such as an adapter board or the like, which is adapted for electrically connecting a card connector to a PCB, as is disclosed in Taiwan application No. 85214724 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,999.
Referring to FIG. 4, a conventional card connector 6 comprises an insulative housing 60, two rows of conductive contacts 62 retained in the housing 60, a conductive plate 63 covering the housing 60 and an adapter device 70. The adapter device 70 includes an orientation member 71 and an adapter 75 adapted to be attached to a PCB (not shown). The orientation member 71 defines a receiving space 713 for partially receiving the contacts 62 and the conductive plate 63. The adapter 75 includes a main body 751 having an unsymmetrical structure, a plurality of conductive terminals 753 retained in the main body 751 and a grounding plate 756 retained on an outside of the main body 751. Each conductive terminal 753 comprises a curved contacting portion 7532 for engaging with a corresponding conductive contact 62, and a horizontal tail portion 7534 for soldering to the PCB. The grounding plate 756 forms a vertical section 7562 for contacting the conductive plate 63, and a horizontal soldering section 7564 for soldering to the PCB. Using this means, the card connector 60 is electrically connected to the PCB by the adapter device 70.
However, since the electrical connection between the conductive plate 63 and the adapter 75 is plate-to-plate, the conductive contact therebetween does not reliably ensure an effective grounding circuit. Additionally, the adapter 75 is relatively difficult to manufacture due to its unsymmetrical structure.
Hence, an electronic card connector having an improved adapter device is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an electronic card connector having an improved adapter device which provides an effective grounding function; and
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electronic card connector having an improved adapter device which is easy to manufacture.
An electronic card connector in accordance with the present invention is adapted for being mounted onto a PCB. The card connector comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of conductive contacts retained in a corresponding number of passageways defined in the housing, a conductive plate and an adapter device. The conductive plate forms a shielding section covering a top of the housing and a grounding section extending vertically downward from the shielding section. The adapter device comprises an orientation member and an adapter adapted for being mounted onto the PCB. The adapter is constructed to have a symmetric structure, and includes a dielectric body, a plurality of pairs of conductive terminals and grounding contacts retained in opposite sides of the dielectric body for conductively contacting with the conductive contacts and the grounding section of the conductive plate, respectively.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.